Lap-tube-welding mechanism.



PATENTEDSEPI'IS, 1904.

A. M. SAUNDERS.

LAP TUBE WELDING MECHANISM.

APPLIOATION FILED APR. 10, 1902.

2 SHEETS -SHEET 1.

NO MODEL.

PATENTED SEPT. 13, 1904.

A. M. SAUNDERS.

LAP TUBE WELDING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 10, 190 2.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

NO MODEL.

fade/2202:

Zi/z'zrzeJJeJ. W 12M I W/ UNITED STATES Patented September 13, 1904.

PATENT EEicE.

AUGUSTUS M. SAUNDERS, OF MOKEESPORT, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO NATIONALTUBE COMPANY, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, A

v CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

LAP-TUBE-WELDING MECHANISM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 770,119, datedSeptember 13, 1904.

Application filed April 10,1902. Serial No. 102,214. (No model.)

To all w/wm, it may concern.-

Be itknown that I, AUGUSTUS M. SAUNDERS, a resident of McKeesport, inthe county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania,.have invented a newand useful Improvement in Lap- Tubeelding Mechanism; and I do herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionthereof.

My invention relates to apparatus for forming lap-weld tubing, and moreespecially to the welding apparatus therefor.

The object of my invention is to provide welding apparatus for lap-weldtubing which comprises welding-rolls providing two or more passes,either in a single set of rolls or in a plurality of sets of rolls,together with suitable guides for directing the tubes to the rolls.

In the manufacture of lap-weld tubing the usual practice is to chargethe bent-up skelp into the welding-furnace through anopening in the rearend thereof, and as the skelp heats up it is rolled over toward thecenter of the furnace and when raised to a good welding heat is pushedout through an opening in the front end of the furnace into theweldingrolls. The usual practice is to have in front of the furnacewelding-rolls which provide only a single pass, so that the output ofthe furnace is limited to the capacity of the single pass. It isnecessary to have guides to direct the skelp into the pass of the rolls,and on this account difficulty has therefore been experienced inarranging rolls which provide more than a single pass, so that aplurality of tubes can be simultaneously welded and the output of thefurnace increased. This difficulty has been due to the fact that if thepasses of the rolls are close together the restricted space between thepasses makes the application of guides difficult. On the other hand, ifthe passes are sufliciently far apart to permit the ready application ofsuch guides the width of the furnace will be unnecessarily increased andits cost of operation correspondingly increased.

The object of my invention is to provide welding-rolls having two ormore passes close together and to which the necessary guides can. bereadily applied.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a horizontal section of theapparatus. Fig. 2 is a front view of the welding-rolls, the bells beingremoved. Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section of the apparatus, andFigs. 4 and 5 are detailed views of the guides.

The welding-furnace (shown at 1) may be of the usual type, except thatit will be provided with two withdrawing-openings 2 in its front end. Infront of the furnace are the welding-rolls 4:, which, as shown, providetwo passes 5 and 6 in line with the withdrawingopenings in the front ofthe furnace. As illustrated these two passes are formed by suitablegrooves in a single pair of rolls, so that said rolls are, in effect,double welding-rolls;

but this is not essential, as these passes may be formed in two separatesets of rolls placed close together. Preferably one of the rolls will beformed with the flanges 8 at the sides of the welding grooves, whichflanges are slightly beveled on the inner faces, as shown, and the otherroll will be formed with the correspondingly-beveled faces 9, which itdown in between the flanges 8. By this means endwise movement of therolls will be prevented and they will be held in proper alinement.

The ends of the rolls are provided with the usual journals 11, mountedin the housings 12, and they may be driven in any well-known manner. Todirect the end of the skelp into the passes of the rolls, I providesuitable guides 13, which, as shown, are so shaped that they fit inbetween the circular faces of the rolls, and one such guide will beprovided at each side of each of the passes. These guides will be heldin any suitable manner; butI prefer to secure them to the inner ends ofholders 14, which are provided with the right-angled portion 15, bymeans of which they are held in place. The guide-holders on the outersides of the two passes can conveniently be secured to v the housings12, and for this purpose they are provided with slots 16, through whichpass suitable bolts 17, which also pass through L. Fr

for the same the rolls are preferably reduced at their central portions,as shown at 20, thus providing a space in which this housing or standardcan be placed. Also secured to the housings 12 somewhat above the passesof the rolls is a cross-bar 21, to which are secured, so as to bevertically adjustable, the guards or lips 22, shaped as shown in Fig. 5and having their inner ends projecting into the grooves of the upperroll just above the pass, so as to press down the lap-joint of theskelp. These lips or guards are shaped to fit into the groove of theupper roll and their lower faces are concaved, as shown at 23.

In front of the guides described the usual funnels or bells 24 will beprovided, and for the double-pass welding-rolls these funnels canconveniently be formed in a single piece, which is bolted to arms of thehousings.

In use my apparatus operates precisely as 0 the ordinary single-passlap-welding mechanism, the skelp being pushed out of the furnace intothe respective passes of the rolls, the guides described properlydirecting the ends of the skelp into the pass.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patentis 1. The combination with a lap-weld furnace, of welding-rollsproviding two passes located in front of said furnace, a supportarranged 4o centrally between the passes of said rolls, and

guides carried by said support and projecting between the rolls at theinner sides of the passes.

2. The combination with a lap-weld furnace, of welding-rolls providingtwo passes located in front of said furnace,- supports arranged outsideof the passes of said rolls, guides carried thereby and projectingbetween the rolls at the outer sides of the passes, a support ar- 5ranged centrally between the passes, and

guides carried thereby and projecting between the rolls at the innersides of the passes.

3. The combination with a lap-weld furnace, of welding-rolls providingtwo passes located in front of said furnace, housings for said rolls,guides secured to the housings and projecting between the rolls atthe'outer sides of the passes, a support arranged centrally between thepasses, and guides carried by said support and projecting between therolls at the inner sides of the passes.

4. The combination with a lap-weld furnace, of welding-rolls providingtwo passes located in front of said furnace, a support arrangedcentrally between the passes, and guides vertically and laterallyadjustable on said support and projecting between the rolls at the innersides of the passes.

5. The combination with a lap-weld furnace, of a single set of rolls infront of the same providing two passes and being reduced between saidpasses, a support arranged centrally between the passes in said cut-awayportion, and guides carried by said support and projecting between therolls at the inner sides of the passes.

6. The combination withalap-weld furnace, of welding-rolls providing twopasses located in front of said furnace, of a suitable support, andguides or lips secured thereto and projecting into the grooves of theupper rolls above the passes.

7. The combination with a lap-weld furnace, of welding-rolls providingtwo passes located in front of the same, a support arranged centrallybetween the passes, guides carried by said support and projectingbetween the rolls at the inner sides thereof, supports arranged outsideof the passes, guides carried thereby and projecting between the rollsat the outer sides of the passes, and guards or lips projecting into thegrooves of the upper rolls above the passes.

8. The combination with a lap *weld furnace, of a set of welding-rollsin front of the same providing two passes, one of said rolls beingprovided with flanges and the other being provided with faces contactingwith said flanges, a support arranged centrally between the passes, andguides carried by said support and projecting between the rolls at theinner sides of the passes.

In testimony whereof I, the said AUGUSTUS M. SAUNDERS, have hereunto setmy hand.

AUGUSTUS M. SAUNDERS.

Witnesses:

FRANK W. YOUNG, W. H. SIGNET, Jr.

